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For it is not only in the name of the inhabitants of Antioch, that I appear in this place; I am come from the sovereign Lord of men and angels, to declare to you, that if you pardon men their faults, the heavenly Father will pardon yours. Call to mind, great prince, that tremendous day, when you will appear before the King of Kings, to give an account of your actions. You are going to pronounce your own sentence. Other embassadors used to display magnificent presents before the princes to whom they were sent : as for me, I offer nothing to your majesty but the holy book of the gospels; and I dare exhort you to imitate your Master, who does good every day to

those who insult him.

He at length concludes his discourse, by assuring the emperor, that if he refused that unfortunate city the pardon she sued for, he would never return to it, nor ever consider that city as his country, which the mildest prince upon earth looks upon with indignation, and could not prevail with himself to pardon.

Theodosius was not able to resist the force of this speech. He could scarce suppress his tears; and, dissembling the emotion he was in, as much as possible, he spoke these few words to the patriarch: If Jesus Christ, God as he is, was willing to pardon the men who crucified him, ought I to make any difficulty to pardon my subjects who have offended me; I who am but a mortal man like them, and a servant of the same Master! Upon this Flavian prostrated himself, wishing him all the prosperity he deserved for this noble action. And as that prelate expressed a desire of passing the feast of Easter at Constantinople: Go, father, says Theodosius, embracing him, and do not delay one moment the consolation which your people will receive by your return, and the assurances you will give of the pardon I grant them. I know they are still grieved and afraid. Go then, and carry the pardon of their crime for the feast of Easter. Pray that God may bless my arms, and be assured, that, after this war, I will go in person, and comfort the city of Antioch..

The

The holy prelate set out immediately; and, to hasten the joy of the citizens, he dispatched a more expeditious courier than himself, who freed the city from its uneasiness and alarms.

I once more beg pardon for the length of this digression. I imagined, that the extract of this eloquent homily might be as useful to youth, as any passage in profane authors. There would be room for many reflections, especially on two characters, which, though seemingly incompatible, are united, however, in Flavian's oration; the humility and prostrate submission of a suppliant, with the magnificence and greatness of a Bishop, but which are so modified, that they mutually support each other. We at first behold the Bishop trembling, entreating, and, as it were, lying down at the Emperor's feet. But afterwards, towards the end of the discourse, he appears invested with all the splendor and majesty of the Lord, whose minister he is. He commands, he threatens, he intimidates; but still humble in his elevation. But I will content myself with the reflection which arises naturally from the subject that gave me occasion to relate this story. In my opinion, these two discourses of Flavian and Theodosius may be proposed as an excellent model in. this species of mild and tender passions. I do not pretend thereby to exclude the strong and violent ones with which they are sometimes blended; but, if I am not mistaken, the former are predominant.

SECT. III.

OF THE ELOQUENCE OF THE BAR.

THE rules I have hitherto given upon Eloquence, being for the most part borrowed from Cicero and Quintilian, who applied themselves chiefly in forming orators for the Bar, might be sufficient for such young gentlemen as are designed for that honourable profession. I thought, however, that I was obliged to add some more particular reflections, which

may

may serve them as guides, to point out to them the paths they are to follow. I shall first examine what models must be proposed to form the style suitable to the Bar, and will afterwards speak of the means which youth may employ, to prepare themselves for pleading. And I shall conclude with collecting some of Quintilian's finest observations upon the manners and characters of pleaders.

ARTICLE I.

OF THE MODELS OF ELOQUENCE PROPER FOR THE BAR.

HAD we the harangues and pleadings of the great number of able orators, who for some years have made the French Bar so famous, and of those who still appear at it with so much lustre, we should be able to find in them certain rules and perfect models of Eloquence. But the few performances we have of this kind oblige us to have recourse to the source itself; and to search in Athens and Rome for those things which the modesty of our orators (perhaps excessive in this respect) does not permit us to find at home.

Demosthenes and Cicero, by the consent of all ages, and of all the learned, have been the most distinguished for the Eloquence of the Bar; and consequently their style may be proposed to youth as a model they may safely imitate. It would be necessary, for that purpose, to make them well acquainted with it, to be careful in observing the character, and to make them sensible of the differences in it; but this cannot be done without reading and examining their works. Those of Cicero are in every one's hands, and therefore well enough known. But it is not so with Demosthenes's orations; and in an age so learned and polite as ours, it must seem astonishing, that since Greece has been always considered as the first and most perfect school of Eloquence and good taste, we should be so careless, especially with regard to the Bar, in

consulting

consulting the great masters she has given us in that kind; and [q] that in case it was not thought necessary to bestow much time upon their excellent lessons, we should not, at least, have the curiosity to take but a cursory view of them; and hear them, as it were, at a distance, in order to examine ourselves, if it be true, that the eloquence of those famous orators is as admirable as it is declared to be; and if it fully answers the reputation they have acquired.

In order to enable young people, and those who have not studied Greek, to form some idea of Demosthenes's style, I shall here transcribe several passages from his orations, which indeed will not be sufficient to exhibit that great orator in the glorious light he ought to be shewn, nor perhaps to give models of his eloquence in all its kinds; but they will contribute at least to display some part of him, and his principal characteristics. I shall add to this, some passages from the harangue which Æschines, his competitor and rival, pronounced against him, and borrow M. Tourreil's translation; I mean the last, which is much more laboured, and more correct, than the former ones. I shall, however, sometimes take the liberty to make a few small alterations, because, on one hand, there are a great number of low and trivial [r] expressions in it, and on the other, the style is sometimes.

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too swelling and bombastic [s]; faults directly contrary to the character of Demosthenes, whose eloquence was at the same time very simple and very magnificent. M. de Maucroy has translated some of his orations. His version, though less correct in some passages, seems to be more agreeable to the genius of the Greek orator. I partly make use of it in the first extract I here give, which is taken from the first Philippic.

[] I shall quote but one place, taken from the third Philippic. De là il arrive, que dans vos assemblées, au bruit flatteur d'une adulation continuelle, vous vous endormez tranquillement entre les bras de la volupté: mais que dans les conjonctures & dans les événemens vous courez les derniers périls. The original of the first part, which alone admits of any difficulty, runs thus: εἰθ ̓ ὑμῖν συμβέβηκεν ἐκ τούτου ἐν μὲν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις τρυφάν καὶ κολατεύεσθαι πάντα πρὸς ἡδονὴν axovovor. Wolfius translates it in this manner: Unde id consequimini, ut in concionibus fastidiatis, assentationibus deliniti, & omnia, quæ voluptati sunt,audiatis. This is the true sense of the words, and is accordingly followed by M. Maucroy. Vous vous rendez difficiles dans vos assemblées: vous voulez y être flattés, & qu'on ne vous tienne que des propos agréables. Cependant cette délicatesse vous a conduits sur le bord du précipice. What has deceived M. Tourreil, is the word repay, which is commonly rendered by, deliciis abundare, difflucre, in deliciis vivere. Altho' it would bear this sense here, he ought not to

have expressed it by these pompous

terms: vous vous endormez tran

quillement entre les bras de la volupté : which, joined to what goes before, au bruit flatteur d'une adulation continuelle, forms a style quite opposite to that of Demosthenes, whose manly nervous eloquence does not admit of such ornaments. Luxury and the love of pleasure were not then the characterofthe Athenians ; and besides, what connection could they have with the public assemblies? It is much more natural, that the Athenians, puffed up by the continual encomiums their orators made them, of their great power, their superior merit, the exploits of their ancestors, and, long accustomed to such flatteries, did on one hand look big in their assemblies, and assume haughty and disdainful airs towards an enemy whom they despised; though on the other, they were arrived at that degree of delicacy, that they would not suffer their orators to tell them the truth. For I think that guar may admit of a twofold sense in this place.

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